Complicated Benefits
by readingflowers
Summary: A/U The guys of PJO have been in  a No Girl club since kindergarten. Over the years, the rules changed to only dating a girl for a week, never getting serious. But Annabeth Chase makes Percy question his loyalty to the club.
1. New Friends

***DISCLAIMER: I don't own Percy Jackson **

*Prologue- Age 5

Percy Jackson, Nico Di Angelo, and Grover Underwood sat in their small tree house in Percy's backyard, playing Monopoly **(A/N: of which I also do not own.) **It was their second month of kindergarten and their other friends were to be meeting them soon.

"Ha!" Grover exclaimed. "I win! You guys owe me a pack of goldfish!"

Percy smirked at his friend and got off his stomach to lean against the tree house wall. Nico, on the other hand, huffed and took out a paperclip and started to carve his name into the tree trunk that went through the side of the medium-sized tree house.

"Percy! Your friends are here!" Percy heard his mother yell up to him.

"They can come up!" Percy yelled back.

Grover swung open the square hatch in the floor and up came the rest of their group, which consisted of most of Mr. Brunner's kindergarten class. Travis and Connor Stoll, Jason Grace, Frank Zhang, Luke Castellan, Leo Valdez, Chris Rodriguez, Charles Beckendorf, Ethan Nakamura, Jake Mason, Lee Fletcher, Will Solace, Michael Yew, Malcolm Chase, and Tyson. Tyson doesn't tell anyone his last name.

They could hear their parents on the ground laughing and talking. They were having a barbeque.

The hatch swung open again and Percy's mother's head popped up.

"Don't stay up here for long, okay boys?" she said sweetly.

The boys nodded their heads and said okay.

Once her head disappeared and Chris closed the hatch, all of the boys shuffled to one end of the house. Grover pulled a large laundry hamper from the side of the tree and placed it opposite of the other boys.

Ethan Nakamura took out a piece of paper with the words "Olympian Council" scrawled on it. The words were sloppy and spelled wrong so it actually said "Olimpen Cownsil". He taped it onto a branch above the hamper.

Tyson and Charles Beckendorf lifted up their shirts and out came packs of food. Percy picked up one and tossed it over to Grover.

"There's your prize!" Percy grinned as Grover opened up the Goldfish.

Nico banged on the hamper with his small fist.

"Hello everyone and welcome to our fifth Olympian Council meeting!" he said.

The boys cheered and opened up their food packs and juice boxes.

"Please welcome our Vice President, Grover Underwood, and our President, Percy Jackson!"

Everyone cheered louder and the parents on the ground looked up at the tree house with confused expression but let it pass.

Grover and Percy went to the front, next to Nico and waved to their classmates.

"Hey guys," Percy said. He looked at Nico. "Do you have the paper?"

"Yup!" Nico went to the side where the hamper was and took out a piece of notebook paper and handed it to Percy.

"Okay, first on the To Do List, who will bring snacks next week?" Percy read out loud.

Nobody raised their hand.

"Oh, c'mon guys, being the snack people is a lot of fun, right Tyson?" Percy said.

Tyson gave him a confused look.

"Ok, fine, get the bowl," Percy mumbled.

Malcolm handed him a bowl full of paper with each of their names on it. Percy took out two and said, "The snack people are…Frank and Leo!"

Frank and Leo groaned while everyone else smiled.

"I'll bring juice," Frank sighed.

"Ok, next on the list is…nothing. Um…" Percy looked around the room.

"Thalia!" a woman's voice said from below them. "Annabeth is over here, so if Bianca!"

"Ugh!" Jake Mason said. "I can't believe your sisters are here!"

Jason nodded. "Gross."

Malcolm shrugged. "What's wrong with Annabeth?"

Everyone looked at him.

Leo said, "What's wrong with _girls?_ That's the question."

"They have cooties!"

"They smell good!"

"They play with dolls!"

Malcolm was still confused. "But Nico plays with dolls."

Nico looked offended. "They are _not_ dolls! They're action figures!"

"Girls are gross, who needs 'em?" Lee Fletcher said.

Grover and Percy looked at each other and a light bulb went off in both of their heads.

"I got it!" Percy said. "From this point on, this club will be a No Girl club!"

The boys all looked at him. After a moments silence, they erupted into applause.

"Boys! Come down now, it's time for dinner!"

* * *

><p>*Chapter 1- Age 13<p>

Percy sat at his desk in Social Studies, tapping his foot on the leg of his desk.

_Five more minutes, just five more minutes, Percy._

"Does anyone want to give the explanation of Bacon's Rebellion?" Mr. Hilling asked.

Mr. Hilling is one of the weirdest teachers in the school and said weird things whenever he dropped something. Take for instance, twenty minutes earlier. He was walking around with a red pen and dropped it by Kayla's desk and said "Oh, sugarpants!"

Sugarpants? Where did he get that from?

The girl in front of him, Annabeth Chase, raised her hand. Mr. Hilling ignored her and said, "Percy?"

Percy sighed and looked at him, his eyes saying _Seriously, you really want to pick me like I've been listening?_

"Um, I don't know, Bacon rebelled against someone who got mad at him and there was a battle after it," he said.

The class chuckled and Mr. Hilling looked disappointed. "No."

_Rrrriiing!_

Percy shot out of his seat and picked up his backpack and accidently hit Annabeth's shin.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes and strolled out of the classroom.

_What got in her pants?_

Percy followed her out the door and down the stairs to where their lockers are. Annabeth was three lockers down from him and no one else was around. Annabeth opened her locker first and smirked when Percy couldn't get his open. He tried four more times before he gave up and slammed his fist against it.

Annabeth closed her locker and sighed at him.

"You're doing it wrong," she said.

"Well, obviously," Percy said coldly.

"Fine, if you don't want my help, you might as well miss your stupid club meeting." She started down the hall.

"Hey, your brother is in that club!" he called after her. He tried his locker two more times and looked up. "Wait!"

Annabeth turned around, her smirk still on her face. "Yes?"

"I need help," he mumbled.

Annabeth walked closer. "What was that?" she asked, cupping her ear in her hand. "I couldn't hear you over the sound of your pride."

"I need your help, Chase!" Percy exclaimed.

She smiled and pushed him out of the way. "What's your combo?"

"27-19-4" he answered.

Within a few seconds, she swung open the door and papers flew out onto the floor. Annabeth looked into his locker and made a face.

"You can't be serious," she said as Percy picked up the papers.

"What?" he said.

"Did a hurricane hit your locker?" she asked as she made her way down the hall again.

"Ha-ha, very funny." After Percy got his things and closed his locker and jogged up to her. "The club's not stupid."

"Oh, definitely, not stupid at all," Annabeth said, rolling her eyes.

"You don't even know what we do," he answered.

"I know that it's a No Girl club. Pretty mature, right?"

"How'd you know that?" Percy asked. "Did Malcolm tell you?"

"Ha, Malcolm didn't have to. Thalia and I found out by fourth grade. You guys should really be quieter."

"OK, but I'll have you know that a lot of men have No Girl clubs."

"Men? You guys are not men, you're hardly boys. Only five year olds have No Girl clubs."

_Ouch._

"This is exactly why we have this club," Percy told her.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

"…you guys are mean."

They stepped outside into the cold autumn air.

She smirked. "If you keep this club of yours going, you're all going to be homosexual, not that I'm saying it's bad, but I know that Clarisse has her eye on Chris and someone is going to get their ass kicked and my guess is you, Mr. President."

My eyes widened and I stopped walking. Annabeth gave me an army salute and walked toward Malcolm who was waiting by their dad's car.

_Oh, sugarpants. _

* * *

><p>"Guys, stop it! You're gonna break it!" Lee Fletcher punched Jake Mason's back to get him to stop fighting over Percy's TV remote with Beckendorf.<p>

"Ethan, that's not how you use a pillow…"

"There's no way you can fit eight peanut butter sandwiches in your mouth, Tyso- Oh, my god apparently you can."

Percy walked into his living room, eyes still wide from what Annabeth said, and placed the snacks on the table. He stepped away quickly so that his arm didn't come off as everyone attacked the plate.

He could almost hear Annabeth's voice saying_ Hmf! Thirteen year old _men?_ Sure! Just wait until Clarisse hears about Chris playing for the other team! Hope you have a vice president…_

Percy swallowed and looked at Grover who was happily gobbling down on cold pizza.

"Um, guys, let's go outside," Percy said hoarsely. He needed some fresh air.

The guys all got up and ran out the front door to Percy's lawn. Percy trailed behind and sat down on a rock while everyone else played basketball and wrestled on the grass. Chris was laughing with Beckendorf hysterically.

_No way. There is _no way_ that Chris is playing for that team. I mean, not that it would be bad, it's a lifestyle but then again, I'm going to get beat up by a girl if he is. But it's not my fault that he's gay, right? If anything, Clarisse should punch his face in…right?_

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a girl's laugh. Percy looked up and saw Annabeth, Thalia, Bianca, and Juniper across the street on Annabeth's lawn. Some other girls were with them, too, but he couldn't see their faces.

Annabeth caught his eye and she looked over to Chris, who now had his arm around Beckendorf's shoulder, almost crying from his laughter. She looked back to him and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Percy!" someone shouted. He looked over to see Nico and Grover motioning him over. He stood up and walked over to them.

"Were you looking at the girls?" Nico asked, his eyebrows raised.

"What? Looking at the girls, pft! ...Why, were you?" Percy asked.

"Nope, but we definitely saw you looking at them," Grover said.

Percy looked from Grover to Nico to Grover again. _Oh, screw it!_

"Okay! I was looking at them!" Percy said.

Nico grinned and asked, "Which one?"

"What?" Percy looked at him weirdly.

"C'mon, which girl were you looking at? Was it Kayla? What about…Thalia?"

Was that jealously?

But they kept at it until Percy got fed up and shouted, too loudly:

"Fine, I was looking at Chase!"

The boys stopped laughing and the girls looked over at them.

Percy stared at Annabeth, who glared at him, and waved nervously.

"Uh, let's go inside, guys!" he said, his voice cracking.

* * *

><p>"You were looking at Annabeth?" Malcolm yelled. "That's my sister!"<p>

"Are you part of the club, or not?"

"What's wrong with you?"

After the guys went inside and back to the living room, the started yelling at Percy.

"Guys, it's not like you've never looked at a girl!" Percy protested with his face red. "We're thirteen, aren't we supposed to do this at thirteen?"

"No! Save that for high school!" Nico yelled.

Percy was sick of having to not talk, touch, look at, or make eye contact with a girl. Other guys in the grade had parties with girls. He's not saying that he has a crush on Annabeth, but it would be nice to talk to her.

"I can't wait until high school! My hormones are everywhere!" he cried.

_What the _hell_ did he just say?_

Nico blinked and make a shocked expression. Grover stepped in front of him.

"Your hormones?" Grover asked.

"I, um, I," he stammered. Percy looked around the room and said, "Yes, my hormones."

Everyone was silent.

"This isn't about your hormones, is it?" Beckendorf asked.

Percy sighed. "No. Annabeth and I were talking after school and she said that Clarisse is going to click _my_ ass because Chris is gay."

Chris spluttered and choked on his soda. "I'm _gay?"_

Percy looked at him. "You're not? Annabeth thought that…wait, you're not?"

"No!"

"Um, then, forget my hormones! Meeting adjourned!" Percy said nervously.

The guys looked at him weirdly.

_Beep! Beep!_

"NICO!" a woman's voice shouted.

"Ah, shit!" Nico cursed. "Gotta go, guys! Have fun with your hormones, Perce!"

"Screw you, Nico!" Percy shouted back.

"Um, I should go too," Chris said. He skirted around the room towards the door.

"Chris, I don't think you're gay!" Percy shouted after him, but he already left.

Everyone else started to get up and walk out the door too.

"Good job, Perce," Grover said, patting Percy's shoulder. "Good job."

"Grover, he's not gay," Percy mumbled.

He waved in response and headed out the door.

Percy was left alone with only crumbled up food packages and crumbs. He looked out the window and saw that Annabeth and all of the other girls weren't outside anymore.

_She's probably pissed at me, too. I hate my life sometimes._

* * *

><p>The next day in school was one of Percy's worst.<p>

No one from the club talked to him, especially Chris. Even Grover and Nico stayed away from him. In social studies, Annabeth completely ignored him, which wasn't very much different, but when he asked for help with his locker, she just kicked it and walked away.

After thirty minutes of trying to get the stupid thing to open, he gave up and walked home. As he turned onto his street, he saw Annabeth sitting on the curb, reading. He stopped in front of her.

"Hey."

She didn't even look up.

"You're probably mad at me…" Percy trailed off. Annabeth still read. "I wasn't really looking at you like that. Grover and Nico were just on my back about it." She stayed turned a page.

Percy sighed and turned around toward his house.

"I saw you during lunch."

He turned back to Annabeth. Her eyes were still reading but her mouth was talking to him.

"I actually felt sorry for you," she went on.

Percy sat alone at lunch today. When he tried to sit down at the club table, most of them glared at them so he sat at an empty table instead, near the back of the cafeteria.

Percy shrugged. "Whatever."

"Sorry I didn't help with your locker. I just wanted to get back at you. I didn't know it would take you this long to get home," she murmured.

"It's fine." He turned around again.

"Want to hang out?" Annabeth asked.

"What?" Percy asked as he looked over to her.

She sighed. "I asked if you wanted to hang out."

Percy looked stunned. "Is that a good idea?"

"Do I seem like the type of person who comes up with bad ideas?" Annabeth asked.

"Not really."

"Then yes, it's a good idea. Besides, I bet your club will take back their president by tomorrow."

"Why would you think that?" I asked her.

She looked Percy in the eye and said, "I talked to Nico and-"

"Wait, you talked to Nico?" I interrupted.

"Um, well, I actually told Austin to tell Nico that it was my fault you called Chris gay. I'm the one that got it in your head. I'm sorry…"

"You did that… for me?" Percy asked, disbelieved.

"Yeah."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because we're friends, stupid, "Annabeth replied.

"We're friends?" Percy made a confused face at her.

"If we weren't friends, would I have asked you to hang out? You still didn't answer that question, by the way."

"Sure."

Percy grinned and Annabeth smiled back. This is going to be one hell of a friendship.


	2. Old Friends

*Age 15

"Percy, wake up!"

There was a slam by my head and I jerked up. Standing above me was my best friend, Annabeth Chase. Her hand was next to where my head was five seconds ago. I looked around the classroom and realized no one was sitting at their desks anymore. I must've fallen asleep during class…again. It's our first day of being 9th graders, freshman at Goode High School, and I've already fallen asleep in all of my morning classes.

"Have you been sleeping lately?" Annabeth asked teasingly.

"Less sleep, more coffee," I said, getting up and slinging my backpack on my shoulder.

"I thought you hated coffee," she replied as we walked out of the classroom and into the crowd of kids in the hallway.

I grimaced. "I do."

Ever since Annabeth told Nico that it was her fault for making me think Chris was gay, she and I became best friends. Being president of our "No Girl" club, I changed the rules to being able to talk to girls and date them, but not get serious. The club almost instantly got girlfriends before the time we got to high school. They only date the girls for a week though. Just so you know, Annabeth and I aren't dating.

"Want to hang out after school today?" Annabeth asked.

"Can't, got a meeting," I told her, apologetically. "What about tomorrow?"

She shook her head. "Yearbook meeting, what about Thursday?"

"No, I'm going to football tryouts. You should be a cheerleader." I smirked. "Tryouts are on Wednesday."

She made a face. "No way. Besides, I'm trying out for volleyball on Wednesday."

"You can't do that," I told her. Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

"And why can't I?" she asked.

"You're definitely going to make it, and if you make it then we can't hangout. We'll both be too busy."

"Then why don't you not try out for football?" she asked.

"No, I actually have a shot at being quarterback. I've been practicing all summer, remember? The rest of the club is trying out, too," I said.

"Oh, I remember. I, also, remember the time that I threw the football to you and it hit you in the-"

I coughed so that no one could hear her say the rest of her sentence.

She sighed. "We're never going to have time for each other."

I nodded in agreement. "High school, what're you going to do about it."

"It's going to be four years of hell."

"You can say that again."

_RRRRIIING_

"See you around?" I asked as she opened the door to her next class.

"I'm not sure," she answered. "High school, remember?"

*Age 17

Junior year at Good High School. I might as well take out a gun and shoot myself in the head.

Only one more year in this hell-hole and then I'm home free. _'You can do this, Jackson. If you managed to become the star quarterback for freshman and sophomore year, you can do it again.'_

I got out of my new car, a birthday present from my mom and stepdad. Annabeth Chase was two parking spaces down from me.

Ever since freshman year, we haven't been talking for a while. We just had too much going on. I had football and she had yearbook and volleyball. I don't think she does volleyball anymore though. She changed over the last two years, or was it just the summer? She'd gotten taller, maybe she's 5'11". Whatever, at least I'm taller than her (6'1", not bragging). She doesn't even need to use makeup but she does use a little bit of eyeliner. Her ears were pierced.

Annabeth is beautiful.

She looked over at me and gave a small smile as she got her backpack out of her dad's old car. I remember when her dad got it in seventh grade…and when I threw up in it in eighth when we were driving back from Six Flags. I started to walk toward the school, gave her an awkward wave, and tripped on the curb, falling onto my palms.

People around me laughed and I heard footsteps getting closer. I looked up and saw Annabeth, trying not to smile.

"You okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine," I muttered, starting to get up. My palms were scratched blood started to come out of some of the scratches.

"You should go to the nurse and get your hands washed up," Annabeth suggested.

"Probably."

We walked to the front doors and she held the door open for me. I nodded at her in thanks.

"So how've you been?" I asked as she walked to her homeroom and I walked to the nurse.

"Fine," she answered, shifting her backpack. "You?"

"Fine."

'_Well, this couldn't get any more awkward.'_

"Um, are you going to Jason and Thalia's party later?" she asked.

I almost forgot about that. "Yeah, are you?"

"Yeah," she answered. We were both silent for a while. "Did you hear about Luke?"

I looked at her. Annabeth was looking at the floor and she sniffed.

"Yeah," I whispered.

Luke is in our club, or at least _was_ in the club. He got in a car accident with his girlfriend over the summer and was still in the hospital. Head injuries, the doctor said. His girlfriend got out fine with only a sprained wrist and a few cuts.

"Sorry I brought it up," she said softly. She stopped walking and went into her homeroom class.

"It's alright," I told her even though I knew she couldn't hear me.

At lunch, the club and I sat at our normal table. Annabeth and her friends were at the table next to ours. She looked over at my hands and gave me an apologetic smile. The heels of my palms were covered in Band-Aids and stung like hell from that cream the nurse put on them.

But that didn't stop me from eating.

"So, Perce, you gonna try out for quarterback this year?" Grover asked.

"Totally," I said.

Down the table I could hear Ethan going on about Luke.

"Oh, yeah, Rachel's fine. She's even coming back in two days. Luke's might have to be put into a coma though."

"For how long?" Tyson asked him.

"I'm not sure. A couple months, maybe even a year. There's no telling where his memory will be when he wakes up," Ethan went on.

I sighed and looked at Grover who was staring at Ethan with disgust.

"Look at him!" he hissed. "Talking about the accident like it was no big deal. He might as well of been the car hitting them!"

"Relax, Grover. At least we know how Luke is."

_And that he might not remember any of his life before the accident…_

**Tell me how it was! **

**R&R **


	3. No More Nostalgia

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Percy Jackson and/or the Olympians. **

* * *

><p>"Close the door, dumb-ass!" Nico yelled as Grover climbed into Percy's old-as-crap car. It was used and would probably break down for good in about five months, but for now it was better than nothing. "Why is it so fucking cold? It's only September!"<p>

"Probably because of a little something called _global warming_," Grover said, slamming the door shut and sliding in more so be in the middle seat in the back of the old car. "People have got to recycle more or soon enough it's going to be forty degrees in August!"

"Calm down, Grove, don't get your panties in a knot," I told him as I backed out of his drive way and towards the Grace's house.

Ever since freshman year Jason and Thalia had a "Beginning-of-the-School-Year,-Whoop-de-Fucking-doo" party. Most of the people in the grade are invited and the Grace's parents are never home for it. Their anniversary is in the first week of September and they go on vacation to a different place every year to celebrate.

I don't think they even do anything except mess around in bed since the places they go don't make any sense now. They went to Detroit this year. I bet next year they're going to go someplace _real_ romantic like a gas station bathroom.

"Are we picking up anyone else?" Nico asked, turning up the heat.

"Nope, just us."

As we got closer to the Grace's house, the sky darkened and thunder rumbled in the distance. It's been raining for almost four days now and the weather channel said there was going to be a lot more isolated thunderstorms next week. Gray clouds hung in the air and glided slowly through the sky as the first small drops of rain fell onto the car and we parked on the side of the party house.

Cars were already there, filling up the big driveway. Teenagers ran to take cover from the rain and into the gigantic house. I could see Annabeth with Juniper and Silena quickening their pace as the rain started coming down harder.

As we got out of my car, I pulled up my sweatshirt hood and jogged towards the big wooden doors, Nico and Grover behind me. A flash of lightning and a clap of thunder that could've shaken the ground showed that the storm was only just beginning.

As more people came to the party, more rain fell and more thunder rang out. Loud music filled the huge house and within a half hour, a crowd filled the place and I had to squeeze through people to get anywhere.

The Stoll brothers brought kegs from their house and set them in the kitchen. They started a little business with it, asking for one dollar per cup. Shockingly, nobody complained and quickly handed over their money and grabbed their cup.

I could see Annabeth near Travis and Connor, getting a cup from them. I never knew she drank...

"Hey, Percy!" a voice shouted over the music. I turned to see Thalia, smiling and dancing in what limited space was given. "What's up?"

"Hey, Thals. Great party!" I yelled, making my way for the kegs.

"Thanks, gets better every year, huh? Have you seen where Jason went?" she asked, follow me through the crowd.

"Yeah, he went downstairs with Piper. Since when did Annabeth drink?"

"What? You're loosing it, Jackson! Annabeth doesn't drin- oh." She stopped when I pointed over to Annabeth who was gulping down her beer and giggling with Silena. "That's not right...I'll be right back."

Before I could reply, Thalia pushed through the crowd near Annabeth. Once she got there I could see her take the beer from here and ask her something to which Annabeth took the plastic cup back and replied with a laugh. What's up with her?

I made over to them. Thalia was still trying to get the cup away from Annabeth but all the while, Annabeth was laughing and yanking the cup back, not caring that it was sloshing all over the place which is definitely not like her. Finally, Thalia fought her off enough. Annabeth shrugged and took a glass of water from the counter.

She glanced over at me, taking a sip. Her lipgloss left a half-moon shape on the cup.

"Hey Percy," she said, wiping water off her chip, smudging the lip gloss a little bit. "What brings?"

I looked at her weirdly. She normally never talks like that. She's definitely drunk. "It's a party, Annabeth."

Again, she laughed, sending some of her water over the rim of the cup. Then a look crossed her face and she clutched her stomach.

"Ah, great," Thalia muttered, grabbing Annabeth's arm and dragging her outside. "Why the fuck did you drink?"

"Per-cay!" someone yelled. I looked over my shoulder and too very drunken Stoll brothers were there, waving around beer bottles like this was a concert.

"C'mon man, have a..." Travis paused to think about the word. "Um...what?"

"Drink, man! It's a party!" Connor shouted, throwing a bottle at me. Instinctively, I ducked, and the bottle smashed against a cabinet, sending glass and beer everywhere. People cheered to that.

Turning red, and hoping that Jason wasn't around to see that, I walked out the kitchen door to the porch. A couple of people were there including Annabeth and Thalia.

Annabeth was leaning over the railing, blowing chunks, while Thalia patted her back. This is a sight to see.

After a few minutes, Annabeth squatted down before turning and completely sitting, her head in between her knees, groaning.

"It's okay, you just got carried away," Thalia comforted.

Watching Annabeth like that made me remember when I threw up after Six Flags **(A/N:** **of which I do not own)**. Hunched over in her dad's, and now her, car and then feeling so sick that I had to put my head in between my knees. She was comforting me then, even though I knew she wanted to laugh. And, to be honest, I wanted to laugh too.

I wonder if she ever felt as nostalgic about our friendship as I used to.

_Whoa_, I thought. Where did_ that _come from? I didn't even have one sip of beer.

Annabeth was just getting up when I saw the blue and red lights.

"_Cops!"_ someone yelled from inside and everyone was suddenly in motion. People inside ran outside and jumped off the deck or ran down the stairs. Some even ran into the neighbors' backyards. I saw that Travis and Connor weren't lucky. They were getting corralled by an officer to the front of the house.

"Run!" Thalia yelled, taking off (surprisingly) _into_ her house.

My feet were frozen in the spot and I couldn't tell if Annabeth had left or not.

"You!" a voice yelled. The bright light of a flashlight flashed across me and slid into my eyes, making everything hard to see. "Stay right there!"

I didn't know what to do. So I bolted off the deck and onto the lawn. My feet pounded against the cold, wet September grass. I could see my breath in front of me.

"You better stop if you know what's good for you, kid!" the cop yelled.

I don't know why, but for some reason that made me run faster. The bottom of my jeans were soaked by now and I knew I wouldn't make it to my car. I was about to pick up more speed when I felt a cold hand grab my arm and yank me to the left.

Before I knew what was happening, I fell down a what seemed like a hole and landed on concrete. The sound of a thin-like wooden door closing came from above me and seconds later the sound of knocking from the other side sounded.

"What-"

"Shh," a voice said lowly. "Let him leave."

A yellow light appeared through the cracks of the door and then I knew where I was. The Grace's had an old storm cellar in their backyard. The doors stuck out of ground but it looked like they were locked from the other side right now. I saw the blonde curly hair of my savior shine in the light of the flashlight.

Annabeth grabbed my and pulled me to the bottom of the door, where the flashlight could not see.

"Dammit, he's not here," a gruff voice said.

We sat in silence for a long time, taking in what just happened. Party, Annabeth had beer, she threw up, cops came, I almost got caught, Annabeth saved me,...not what?

She flipped on the switch and a small light came on. We could still hear people outside running and sirens blaring, but we stayed where we were.

"Been a while, huh?" I asked, breaking the silence.

We both bursted into laughter. The nostalgic feeling was gone.

* * *

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